Kristina Göransson
Deputy Head of Department | Director of Doctoral Studies | Senior Lecturer | PhD in Social Anthropology | Associate Professor
Conflicts and Contracts : Chinese Intergenerational Relations in Modern Singapore
Author
Summary, in English
The thesis argues for the importance of an analytical framework that recognizes processes of both disintegration and consolidation, and the levels at which these processes occur. While Singapore represents one of the most rapidly changing societies worldwide, the family remains a pivotal feature of society and the primary unit of support. In analyzing the continuity of intergenerational support, the author elaborates on the notion of an ?intergenerational contract?. The notion of a contract underlines the standpoint that intergenerational obligations are neither a natural fact nor immune to negotiation, but it is also a contract the parties are socialized into, rather than one that is explicitly agreed upon. The author shows that the idea of a contractual relationship between parent and child is cemented by the government's family politics, which explicitly locates the responsibility of welfare within the family. It is further argued that the intergenerational contract has to be understood not only in relation to the political economy and the state, but also in relation to the specific cultural logic whereby it is represented and interpreted. While the intergenerational contract is being reproduced on many different levels, it is not a static entity. The ethnographic record unfolds how intergenerational relations are being challenged and renegotiated in the context of extensive societal change. In this light, the thesis also examines how intergenerational support is represented and interpreted in relation to the global capitalist economy.
Department/s
- Social Anthropology
Publishing year
2006
Language
English
Publication/Series
Lund Monographs in Social Anthropology
Volume
17
Full text
- Available as PDF - 15 MB
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Document type
Dissertation
Publisher
Department of Sociology, Lund University
Topic
- Social Anthropology
Keywords
- Sociology
- Southeast Asia
- Anthropology
- Social change
- Modernity
- Filial piety
- Intergenerational contract
- Chinese families
- Generations
- Singapore
- Cultural anthropology
- ethnology
- Sociologi
- Kulturantropologi
- etnologi
Status
Published
Supervisor
- Kajsa Ekholm Friedman
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1101-9948
- ISBN: 91-7267-202-1
Defence date
3 June 2006
Defence time
11:15
Defence place
Hörsalen Spoletorp
Opponent
- Shmuel Eisenstadt (Professor)